Tigara
Tigara belongs to Purplecocoa5 for the Animal OC contest run by Nightclaws the NightWing, please ask for permission in using this character. Thanks ahead of time! Also, please let me know if I have used one of your names and are uncomfortable with it. Description Tigara is a MudWing with orange tan brown scales and mud brown stripes going down their back in stripes. Their scales are faded slightly, as Tigara is also a spirit. Their wings are simply the tan brown of their scales, with the membrane being the stripes' colors. Before death, Tigara was a friendly resident of Possibility. He loved animals, and normally took in any strays he found. He was generous, though his temper was quick to flare when he, his animals, or his family and work were insulted, and he would quickly launch into a debate, which he normally won. He also had a mischievous side, and sometimes would prank visitors by "accidentally" letting in one of his strays, normally a canine or feline. After a time taking care of animals, Tigara was sure to let them go before they became truly domesticated and lost all connection to the wild, and he has compared himself to "A mother showing her dragonets to the world." After death, Tigara was simply a spirit, with tinted brown scales, and faded brown eyes, and he normally wandered forests or any location in which animals roamed. When appearing to other dragons, they simply let the dragon get a glimpse of them, so in the eyes of others he is simply missing, not dead, though many have lost their hope he lives. Spirit Tigara is distant and uncooperative, as many have tried to call him. Background Tigara was hatched an orphan, on the border of MudWing territory. Shortly after hatching, he wandered just out of the MudWing territory into the rainforest, as a dazed and confused MudWing with no name, no guardian, and no sense of security or belonging. Just hours after leaving MudWing territory, Tigara found himself curled up in the niche of a tree, staring at a curious, fuzzy, thing, unbeknownst to him, was a sloth. Atop its back, a small baby with unblinking eyes. As Tigara leaned toward the sloth baby's black eyes, it blinked, just as the mother retaliated, the combined effect shocking Tigara out of the tree and into a RainWing's waiting talons. Tigara first was raised with the RainWings, where he was constantly imitated for his strange scales. Tigara, who had the knowledge of being a MudWing drilled into him, knew he was different, so he found solace in the various animals of the rainforest. Eventually, he began returning at late night and suntime, to sneak in with stray animals such as frogs and macaws, on one occasion even bringing back a lost squirrel. Soon, the antics were too much for the RainWings, even as laidback as they were, and Tigara was presented to the MudWings. At the first introduction to tradition, Tigara immediately stuck out like a sore thumb. He appreciated his adopted sibs, as Arachne and Willow, two sisters, were also considered "peculiar". Otherwise, interaction with others normally began with awkward greetings and relived goodbyes or hurried excuses to leave. Tigara was an outcast, and he knew it. One night, Tigara crossed the line, as he brought home rotting flesh instead of bacon in the expression. A snapping turtle. Tigara had found it trapped with a vine tightly wound around and even cutting, in some places into the turtle's leg. He brought it home, sympathetic, until it escaped from Tigara's pen constructed for it, and it subsequently chomped down on talons- it was an unusually large turtle. The fleeing turtle eventually ran into a dragonet, and let's just say the dragonet would be dubbed Stubtail. After the unfortunate episode, Willow grew increasingly paranoid with each animal brought back, and Tigara, being the caring adopted brother, decided to run. He ran to the one place he knew other than rainforest would accept him- Possibility. Possibility, named for the possibility that all tribes might live in harmony. He hoped. Slowly but surely, Tigara carved out an existence in Possibility, actually becoming the go-to veterinarian and a zoologist. Tigara first started by decidedly building his own home, determined not to be a burden to others, which caught little attention. What did catch attention, is when he bought a scavenger to save it from being eaten. This act stunningly put him in debt for almost a year, sparking whispers of the MudWing who would strike a deal with the devil to save a scavenger. The devil, of course, being practically a reincarnation of the lord of the condemned himself. Their name: Narelia. Narelia, a striking, hypnotizing, jade green RainWing. She was every bit a trickster; she could talk a SkyWing into not using their fire while making it seem as if they could and charm a snake into unknowingly defang themself- at least that's what the rumors said. Narelia adopted the appearance of a red-tailed racer, a snake that was jade green except for their tail, which was a greenish red. When Narelia struck the deal, she wove the words like a basket: watertight. The exact words were, "With this deal I trade this scavenger into the possession of the second party in this trade. Unto the second party, they are beseeched and indebted to eight months of servitude. In no way may they cut their debt short, and in no way can they turn their back on this deal."((Apologies for this, I'm not quite sure about whether or not this is actually watertight)) Tigara, caught in Narelia's web, willingly (secretly unwillingly) skinned tens of foxes and other canines, only to watch the pelts be used as fuel for fire. However, Tigara now had something to look forward to returning to: his new scavenger. The scavenger, who had almost fully recovered from the trauma experienced in their short stay with Narelia adopted the name Spark. Spark, who had a shock of red orange hair, and was fairly tall in scavenger terms. After long days, Tigara would return to do one of three pastimes; play Translate, have dinner, or construct. Translate was when either Tigara or Spark would write on a scroll- Spark would draw and Tigara words. This was how eventually they learned to communicate. Spark would gesture he wanted something, and Tigara would write what he thought Spark wanted. Eventually, through a very tedious process, Spark could roughly read dragon penmanship. Dinner, was also unnecessarily complicated. Spark had to draw what he wanted. Construction was when Spark would use tiny planks and add on to the tiny hut in Tigara's open backyard. With a name sorta established, Tigara started his small veterinarian business in the area connected to his house. Business was quiet- the way he liked it. The occasional fox, a wolf or two, even small cats brought with RainWings, would make small appearances. Meanwhile, the strays that wandered in, injured animals, misplaced out of habitat animals, and plain old appear out of nowhere animals all took up residence in his "backyard". It was an open concept: animals would show up in the healing room, and were released to the backyard where they had the option of coming and going. Most of them went, of course, but some became regulars of checking in for a free meal or two when times got rough. Eventually, the business was booming, and the expansions kept coming, with added aquatic chambers, forest and rainforest sections, and a sections for birds, but the happiness couldn’t last. Tigara- who had been so secluded for so long he was uncomfortable, lost Spark. Spark, the one allowed friend in Tigara’s life. This loss devastated Tigara, to the point where he closed the veterinarian clinic until he could find Spark. As a last ditch, he put up flyers around and about, until Narelia showed up on his doorstep- literally. Tigara almost slammed the door in her face, if it weren't for one thing; a statement from Narelia. "I know what you need." However, as often as there were having dragonets were there info trades without a deal when it comes to Narelia. Never. Tigara, already tense, became even more tense. With a wary "What?" A deal was set- but not one he could expect. Narelia presented a vibrant, kelp green, egg. She explained that someone obviously from out of town left it on her doorstep- a silly move because of her reputation. In any case, she wasn't so cruel as to let a dragonet be raised alone, but she was incapable of caring for it. The deal was if Narelia took it home until it hatched, in order for it to recognize she was, in some sense, their caretaker, she would leave in Tigara's care. The dragonet would be raised by Tigara, and apprenticed to him. In return, Narelia would return Spark. Fearing for Spark, though slightly confused, Tigara agreed. Narelia turned away, leaving a note on his doorstep. ''Your pet is in your first debt. The keys are with your pet. ''Tigara took some time to figure it out, but eventually, he realized it was where he had skinned animals for Narelia three years ago. Racing to the shop, he found an almost healthy Spark, and one other- a peeping egg. Narelia briskly arrived, with a sly smile. "Slow poke." She told him, until suddenly shoving Spark to him and blocking his view with a board. It wasn't until moments later he understood- the egg had hatched in the moments it took for Narelia to hide them. Soon, musical chirping pranced around Narelia, and Tigara stifled a laugh. Minutes later, a bluish dragonet was revealed to him. In a slightly cold voice, Narelia told the dragonet, "This is caretaker. Okay?" And left Tigara with one very disoriented dragonet. Before it could start wailing, he whisked the dragonet to his home, where he let it loose in Spark's old pen. It instantly started chirping for "Mommy". Tossing some venison, Tigara inspected the dragonet closely. Vibrant, shining blue scales glowed in the lamp light, and glowing scales flickered faintly, never deciding what color to be. The talons pinning the venison down were webbed, and a tiny ruff revealed hidden gills. That was all Tigara needed to see to know it was a hybrid. A RainWing SeaWing hybrid. Automatically a massive curiosity gripped him as he wondered where in all of Pyrrhia this dragonet had come from. In any case, he has to shove to the back of his mind- he was caring for a dragonet now. The dragonet, which he called Kyanite, turned into a happy ball of energy that was extremely useful to his business- if she managed to calm down enough to listen to Tigara. She did- eventually. Three years later, on Kyanite's hatching day, Narelia once more arrived on Tigara's doorstep, this time also bearing news. A quiet trade of dragonet and letter commenced, and Tigara closed down shop once more, in a search for someone else dear to him- Arachne. Arachne, the quiet member of the 'Oddity' troop had gone missing. Arachne, whom Tigara loved and was searching for. Eventually, his fate was sealed, but not by the work of many of his animals under his care. In his search for Arachne, he worked himself to the death, literally, as he refused to stop searching until he found Arachne, and one day his trained messenger bird, very intentionally marked, stopped landing on the door of Willow, who had left to Possibility. He was never found again, and Kyanite took over the shop, with the help of Willow. A funeral was held on site, and Tigara became a legend, a fable, a St. Patrick of Ireland to Possibility. Until he was seen by the Diamond Spray Delta, leaned over a small fox lying on a rock. As soon as he was seen, and if he were ever seen from now on, he would vanish with only a whisper of "Save them." Trivia *Tigara was based off of the thylacine, an officially extinct marsupial that has been described as a cat-like creature. **Thylacines are rumored to still exist, giving Tigara his spirit attribute. *Tigara is the name of a major minor character in Wereworld, a teen fantasy book series in which lycanthropes exist. **Tigara in Wereworld was a weretiger, giving Tigara his almost tiger-like appearance. *Originally, Tigara was planned to be a RainWing MudWing hybrid, with color changing scales excluding the stripes. *Narelia is a name of the antagonist in Eliot Schrefer's 'The Lost Rainforest.' Category:Characters Category:MudWings Category:Males Category:Work In Progress Category:Deceased Characters